The Space Between
by moon chips
Summary: It's funny how something that is intangible can be so troublesome. But maybe, what's troublesome about it is the simple fact that it's there. AU.


Hi! This little oneshot is inspired by late. night .stories' _That Which Could Not Be Said_. Basically, this is my take on the best friend-boyfriend cliché. This is my first published story, but I've been around this site for a while. I've always been a reader, but I guess it's my time to contribute :) I don't own _Naruto, _and I kind of don't even own the plot either, haha. Everything belongs to their rightful owners.

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><p>At first, he was just a boy in her life.<p>

It was a nice day when he first met her, perfect actually. It was summer, no homework, and the ten year old spent the day either getting yelled at by his mom to do chores or lying on the grass of the huge Nara backyard. In his first meeting with her, he was doing the latter. He could hear his mom yelling for him, but he courageously chose to ignore her calls. His heart skipped a beat when he heard the sliding door open and close and feet shuffling against the grass towards him. He was expecting to be reprimanded, but instead, a blonde little girl crouched down just above him, a palm on each side of his of his head. Instead of the blue sky, he stared into her blue eyes.

"Hi!" she greeted with a grin.

His eyebrows knotted in confusion. He'd never seen her before.

"I'm Yamanaka Ino. I just moved into the neighborhood. You're Shikamaru, right? Your mom's looking for you, said you should keep me company. But I said I'd come to you instead. So what're you doing here?"

"Well, I _was _watching the clouds" he replied somewhat rudely.

Instead of taking the hint and moving her head away, Ino stayed where she was and curiously looked up at the sky. "What's so interesting about the clouds?" Before he had a chance to defend his favorite pastime, not that he had any intention of doing so, Ino looked back down with excitement. "Oh! We should go pick some flowers!"

"No th—"

His refusals fell on deaf ears, and he was whisked away by Ino to pick some flowers.

Sometime after that, he became her friend.

Well, before that, he was a jerk, her words not his.

He was in his backyard with her again a few months after their first meeting, three to be exact. He remembered because Ino presented to him a hideously pink homemade bracelet as a gift.

"Do you like it?" she smiled expectantly as she held the pink bracelet towards him. There was no doubt in her mind that he would like it.

"It's pink" he stated plainly, as if that description alone would explain his feelings towards the object. He made no move in reaching for her present.

"Yup! Isn't it pretty?" neither her smile nor hand falter despite his lack of excitement.

"It's pink" he stated again.

"Yeah, you said that already. Now, say the other p word!"

"It's _pink_."

Finally, Ino got the hint, and her cheeks puffed in irritation. She stood up from the grass and threw the bracelet to his head. "You're a jerk!"

Left alone, he picked up the bracelet and stared at it. It really was pink. He sighed. _How troublesome. _

The next day, he was sporting the pink bracelet to school. As expected, he was teased.

"Hey, nice bracelet! Totally suits you," the guy who sat next to him quipped.

"Like, OMG, that is, like, _sooooo_ cute!" the blonde class clown teased, his voice mimicking a cheerleader.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru sighed as he rested his cheek on his palm.

He was lying on the grass again, his hands behind his head, when she sat beside him.

"Hey" she greeted, not as enthusiastic as usual. It was guilt.

He looked at her for a second before shifting his eyes back to the sky.

"So I take back what I said yesterday. You're not a jerk. You're a friend. The greatest friend in the whole wide world," she gave him a smile, which faltered at the next sentence. "I'm sorry I made you wear a pink bracelet. I didn't think they'd make fun of you like that."

He took out his bracelet wearing wrist from the back of his head and observed it for a moment, "It's not that bad. It kinda grows on me."

She smiled and leaned down to give him a peck in his cheek as a sign of gratitude.

It was two years after that he became a boy friend, note the space in between.

"So, Ino," Ino's pink haired best friend started with a hint of mischief, "is Shikamaru your boyfriend?"

It was homeroom that time, a time in which everyone was busy socializing, but as soon as the question left Sakura's mouth, the room became silent.

"Uh, yeah" she replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Sakura's jaw almost dropped, some smiled and nodded as if they knew all along, and others were disheartened.

"He's a boy, and he's a friend, so yeah, he's my boy friend."

The room stayed silent for the second time that morning. And a second later, the boys broke out laughing.

"Hey man," a boy with a wolfish grin patted the sleeping boy, "I feel so sorry for you."

He groggily woke up, ignorant of the space that grew and would later haunt him.

Two years later, he finally realized how troublesome the space really was, and he was irritated with himself, partially because let the space grew, but mostly because of the simple fact that he wished the space were gone.

It was a nice day, perfect actually, if it weren't for the fact that Ino forced him to take her shopping. They were walking in the mall when a nice, middle-aged female vendor called her attention. She was selling personalized necklaces in her booth in the middle of the mall. She could write anyone's name on a grain of rice, put it in a vial, add a little flower and sand, all for a small price of 1000 yen.

"Wow," she breathed as she looked at the samples. "You're amazing!"

The woman smiled and looked at Shikamaru, "Is this man your boyfriend?"

"Yep!" she agreed without skipping a beat, and the woman smiled knowingly.

Shikamaru, however, knew that while the woman meant boyfriend, Ino meant boy friend, boy space friend. And surprisingly, he felt his heart ache, as if someone were twisting it. And then he knew. He liked her, but she saw him no more than as a boy friend, with the space between.

Five years later, he was still a boy friend, the space still intact. She could hug him, cuddle with him while watching a movie, sit on his lap, sleep over at his apartment, and he was still only a boy friend.

And maybe it was his fault, too, that the space was still there. With just one kiss, the space would disappear forever. He didn't even have to move much for that to happen. At that moment he was presented with the perfect opportunity.

He was helping her with Calculus in his apartment. She was huddled next to him, and all he had to do was lean down a few inches, and their lips would touch, and the space would disappear.

But will the space disappear by itself, or would it take friend with it?

He was a boy, a friend, and a boy friend. Once he kisses her, will he become a boyfriend, or will he become just a boy, a boy who was once a friend? And once he's a boy, will he still be in her life?

Can he risk it?

He looked at the object of his affection. She was concentrating hard on a problem. Her hair was messy, she wore no makeup, and she was still the most the beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She sensed his stare and looked at him curiously, "What? You're looking at me all weird."

"Nothing, just solve the problem already. At this rate, you won't even get to the second problem on your test."

"Shut up," she stuck her tongue out and resumed solving the problem. A few moments later, she threw her hands in the air with utter delight. And before he even knew it, she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. "I solved it! You're the best boy friend ever!" and she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

And then he knew. He can't risk being just a boy in her life. He can't risk not being by her side. He can't risk not being hugged. He'll remain a boy friend, with the space between.


End file.
